Straight actor Matt Wilson plays a gay character on the Australian soap Neighbours and actually said during a television interview in 2017 that his character ‘acts straight and acts normal.’

Wilson said on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff: ‘There are a lot of people who think you should have a gay actor playing a gay character, but that’s like saying you should get someone in a wheelchair to play a character in a wheelchair. I think it’s important that we are expressing it. We specifically designed the character to act straight and act normal.’

He went on to say: ‘When I say “normal”, I mean he’s not like the characters on Modern Family, where they are flamboyant and camp and they walk around tiptoeing. That creates separation – that’s us and them. It shouldn’t be like that. It should be all equal and no-one should have a problem with that. The way other characters act around my character is that there is never a problem at all.’

Predictably, Wilson has been called out for such ignorant remarks.

He took to Twitter to apologize: ‘Choice of words wasn’t right and apologies if it comes across as offensive. The message I want to get across (and this is in support of one of my closest friends as he is having issues coming out) that he sick and tired of people assuming that because his sexuality is different to the guy next to him that they “expected him to act different”. This isn’t the case, and shouldn’t be preached on TV.

‘Once again – apologies for offending you, I trust you can see through this and see we are promoting the same message.’

3 Remarks

as always when I see things like this I respond, “Apology not accepted.” it’s too late. we already know what they think and no apology should be accepted, because what they really are saying is, “I REGRET saying this because it could hurt my career.”

Oh boy! This guy doesn’t really offend me so much as he causes me to roll my eyes. And the story about his gay friend’s problem with people expecting him to act a certain way smells like horse manure. Either that or his gay friend has some issues himself. If his friend’s having a problem with people assuming he should act a certain way, then put the blame on the ignorant people and not characters like Mitch and Cam.

And what’s with the vilification of flamboyant or effeminate gay men? I don’t get it, because a lot of gay men are that way. And that’s great! By now, there have been plenty of gay male characters on TV and in film that have been portrayed in a variety of ways, that there’s room for all kinds. I don’t understand how some gay men want the erasure of gay men who exhibit feminine qualities or that they devalue them. If you’re secure in your sexuality as gay man then it shouldn’t bother you one bit.